ISS 2014: the_resolver (1/2)
Title: Beautiful Target
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Woohyun/Sungjong
Length: 14096 words
Summary: Woohyun might not be able to make everyone like him, but he will sure as hell try. Office AU.
Warning: very mild smut
To: the_resolver
From: Your Secret Santa
"Sssh, be quiet."
Woohyun takes in a sharp breath, eyes squeezed shut. He's trying to be quiet- God knows he's trying- but it's hard when Sungjong's body is pressed against his as he kisses and sucks the sensitive skin of his neck. He tries to think of something as sexually unappealing as possible- the huge cockroach he found in the kitchen the other day, the one time Kibum decided to wear a bunny oufit for Halloween- but he still can't suppress a moan when Sungjong's lips move upwards, ghosting on his jaw and cheek and ear, taking Woohyun's lobe into his mouth and gently sucking on it.
"I told you to be quiet," Sungjong says again, and his voice sounds different- steady but warm, almost affectionate, not the icy cold tone Woohyun is used to. "If you keep being this loud, someone will hear."
"I'm trying," Woohyun snaps. "How can I be quiet when you…"
Sungjong looks up at him, his big, beautiful eyes shining in the dusk. "I see, so it's my fault. Do you want me to stop?"
"No," Woohyun gasps, and then he blushes, hating how desperate he sounds. "N-no. I'll be quiet."
"Will you?"
Woohyun nods reluctantly, and Sungjong reaches out to stroke his cheek. Woohyun shivers under the touch of Sungjong's long, elegant fingers.
"Good," Sungjong says, and then he's kissing Woohyun, all tongue and teeth, and Woohyun is kissing back just as eagerly, pulling Sungjong flush against him, until they are so close it feels as if they have merged into one. Woohyun never wants this to stop, but suddenly Sungjong pulls away, and then he is staring at Woohyun, face inches from his, lips almost touching.
Woohyun gazes back into his eyes, and he is almost surprised when he realises that Sungjong is smiling- a surprisingly cute, innocent smile, his eyes almost disappearing into tiny little crescents of moon. As he starts to smile back, it hits Woohyun that this is indeed the first time he has ever seen Sungjong's smile like this- now that he thinks about it, have they ever kissed before? Wait, why would Sungjong even kiss him? Woohyun blinks in confusion, but then Sungjong leans in to kiss him again and Woohyun's eyes flutter close, the beating of his heart loud in his ears…
"Woohyun."
Woohyun's eyes snap open. For a second, he doesn't know where he is. Sungjong is gone, and he now finds himself looking down at the tip of his shoes, his forehead pressed against a cool, smooth surface. He blinks, confused, when someone calls his name again.
"Woohyun. What are you doing?"
Woohyun cringes as he recognizes Sungjong's voice-the real Sungjong, not the sexy, willing one of his dream. Because that is all his hot make out session with Sungjong was: a figment of his imagination, something his mind conjured up after he had fallen asleep at work. Something like that has never actually happened, and judging from the current state of Woohyun's relationship with his boss, it probably never will.
Gritting his teeth, Woohyun forces himself to to look up at Sungjong. "Yes, sir?" Woohyun smiles sheepishly.
Sungjong, who is towering over him, rams crossed and a dark expression on his face, looks predictably furious. The cute eye smile that Woohyun never fails to win people over with seems to have no effect on Sungjong whatsoever. "I asked you a question, Woohyun. What were you doing just now?"
Woohyun hesitates- he clears his throat, scratches his head, and then, finding nothing better to do, grins up at Sungjong. "Well, you see… I was, hum…" Woohyun racks his brain, looking for some sort of explanation. "I- I was checking my shoes!" he blurts out eventually.
Sungjong stares at him. "You were doing what?"
"I was making sure my shoes are clean," Woohyun answers, trying his best to sound convincing. "There was mud everywhere on my way to work this morning, and I didn't want to get dirt all over the office floor or something."
To Woohyun's surprise, Sungjong actually smiles- although it's nowhere near as warm a smile as the one he just saw in his dream. "I see. And do tell me, do you usually snore while you do that?"
The hopeful smile that had formed on Woohyun's lips fades at his boss' words. - W-What?
"You were snoring," Sungjong clarifies.
"I don't snore! " Woohyun protests, too hurt by Sungjong's remark to fully realise its implications. "Nam Woohyun doesn't snore! "
"You were, though," Howon says from his desk on the other side of the room, flashing Woohyun his trademark mischievous grin. "Sorry mate, but it's true. I could hear you all the way from here."
Woohyun gives him a dirty look. -"I wasn't--"
"Woohyun," Sungjong hisses. "This is not about whether or not you snore. I have no interest in that. What I do care about, rather, is that you were sleeping during office hours. That is completely unacceptable."
Woohyun gulps, looking away guiltily.
"Now, if you intend to go on working here, I advise you make sure that doesn't happen ever again. Never, you hear me?"
Sungjong is staring straight at Woohyun with that withering look of his, and for a moment, Woohyun wonders how someone who has such a pretty face could look so utterly scary. "Yes, sir," he mutters in reply.
"Is that clear?" Sungjong asks him almost condescendingly.
Woohyun nods grimly. "Yes, sir."
"Good. Now, since you apparently have so much time on your hands, why don't you take care of this for me?" Sungjong continues, dumping a heavy-looking stack of documents and various paper work that seem to have appeared out of thin air onto Woohyun's desk. "It has to be ready in time for tomorrow morning's overview, mind you."
Woohyun gapes at the ominous pile, eyes wide with horror. "But… but… It will take me forever to go through all this!" He whines. "I'll never manage to get it all done by tomorrow morning!"
"Then you'd better get started now, don't you think?" Sungjong says as he is already turning around. "I'll see you tomorrow morning at my office. If those files are not ready by 11 am, don't bother showing up at all."
Woohyun feels a sense of dread come over him as he realizes that to complete the task that Sungjong has just assigned him, he will have to stay at work overtime and come to the office much earlier than usual tomorrow (which, coincidentally, is what he had to do yesterday, and the day before that, too… ). The prospect is so disheartening that not even the blissful sight of Sungjong's ass and slender legs as his boss walks back to his office are enough to cheer Woohyun up (although it is an undeniably good sight, indeed).
"Tough day, uh?" Howon smirks at him from over his desk.
Woohyun scowls, not even bothering to reply as he glowers at the pile of work in front of him.
"You OK?" Woohyun turns around to see Dongwoo give him a concerned look. Dongwoo is Woohyun's only ally in the office- the one who helped him get his bearings when he first started working there, and pretty much the kindest person Woohyun has ever met.
Woohyun forces himself to smile. He doesn't want Dongwoo to worry about him- the older guy is already prone to fretting as it is.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he lies, because to be perfectly honest, he's never felt further from fine. "I'm fine, really."
"I hate my boss," Woohyun mutters at lunch time, glaring down at his bowl of Bibimbap.
"You mean Lee Sungjong?" Sungyeol stares at him incredulously from across the table. "You are kidding me, right? What should I say then? My boss is a lazy bummer who forces me do all the work he can't be bothered to take care of himself, and still has the nerve to nag at me!"
"I like Kim Sunggyu sunbae," Myungsoo says quietly in between mouthfuls of his kimchi jigae (the same dish he's been eating everyday since Woohyun joined the company a couple of months before. Woohyun doesn't know how Myungsoo can look at the dish without wanting to throw up, let alone eat it).
"That's because you are quiet and always do as he says, so he treats you well," Sungyeol says dismissively. "He's awful to me. He's always breathing on my shoulder, telling me to do this and that, and no matter what I do, he still manages to find fault in it. It drives me crazy!"
Woohyun sighs disconsolately as Sungyeol keeps ranting.
"At least with your boss, you've got the eye candy. Kim Sunggyu is not even nice to look at. He looks like a fox, or some kind of old, grumpy shiba inu--"
"The thing is," Woohyun says slowly, looking uncharacteristically serious. "I think… I think my boss hates me. No, screw that- I'm pretty sure he does."
"Oh," Sungyeol blinks. "And why's that?"
Woohyun stare at him, mouth hanging open. "Is that all you have to say?"
"Uh?"
"Why aren't you shocked? You aren't even surprised! I just told you that someone hates me- me, Nam Woohyun, the most lovable guy in the whole world!"
Sungyeol snorts. "Are you being serious right now? Because I don't think--"
"I mean, it's never happened to me before!" Woohyun rambles on, ignoring Sungyeol. "Even when people are not crazy about me at first, I usually grow on them with time. It's kind of my charm, if you know what I mean. And yet, with this guy- my boss- it's just the opposite. The more time passes, the less he seems to like me. Not that he has any reason to dislike me, really- he hardly knows me at all- we have spoken only a handful of times, and it was always about work- and I'm a good employee, so it's not like--"
"Hey, hey, slow down for a second," Sungyeol interrupts him. "This can't be the first time someone doesn't like you."
"It is, though," Woohyun pouts.
Sungyeol looks at him strangely- as if he were an alien, or some other kind of never-seen-before organism. "You can't expect anyone to like you, Woohyun. Some people don't even need a reason to dislike you- you might just rub them off the wrong way, or something. It's just the way life is."
"Your life, maybe," Woohyun corrects him. "Not mine. I was born to be loved. It's the reason why exist. I'm--"
"You are one hell of a drama queen, that's what you are," Sungyeol snorts, rolling his eyes.
"Yah! How dare you talk to your hyung like that?" Woohyun snaps, whacking Sungyeol on the head.
"What hyung?" Sungyeols screeches, ducking away. "You're hardly a few months older than me! We were born on the same year!"
"You agree with me, don't you, Myungsoo-ah?" Woohyun turns to the younger man, blatantly ignoring Sungyeol's words. "I'm the kind of person you can't help but love, right?"
Myungsoo stops eating for a couple of second, his face expressionless as he thinks it over. "I like Woohyun hyung," he concludes eventually, immediately resuming his munching and swallowing.
"Waah, I knew you would say that, Myungsoo-ah!" Woohyun coos, reaching out to ruffle Myungsoo's hair. "You really know how to make your hyung happy!"
"What are you even so happy about? He'd say that to everyone who asks," Sungyeol snorts. "He even likes Kim Sunggyu- how crazy is that? Who in their right mind would say they like him?"
"Kim Sunggyu sunbae is nice," Myungsoo murmurs, still stuffing himself with food.
"See?- Sungyeol exclaims triumphantly. "He's totally not a reliable source of information when it comes to liking people."
"Which just explains why you're his best friend," Woohyun jokes, earning himself a glare and an enraged 'Yah!' from Sungyeol. "Anyway, about what I was saying before--"
"Wait, isn't that Woohyun hyung's boss?"
Woohyun and Sungyeol stare at Myungsoo wordlessly before turning around to look at where he is pointing. Woohyun almost chokes on his rice when he sees Sungjong walking in their general direction, tray in hand, chattering pleasantly with the woman beside him.
"It's him," he hisses, turning back to Sungyeol and Myungsoo, who are staring at him with confused expressions on their faces. "He's coming here- what if he wants to sit with us? What if--"
"Why would he sit with to us?" Sungyeol says, louder than Woohyun would have liked. "A boss doesn't eat lunch with their employees. Besides, weren't you just saying that he hates you or something? I doubt he'd want to spend his lunch break with you."
"Yeah, but still-- I mean, he is walking towards us--"
"Oh, here he is," Myungsoo says matter-of-factly, not bothering to hide the half-munched food in his mouth as he speaks.
Woohyun turns around slowly, his growing sense of dread justified as he realizes that Sungjong is standing right behind him. Their eyes meet, and Sungjong stops, his smile melting away like ice-cream in the sun. Woohyun wishes with all his being that he hadn't turned around; despite all of his previous talk about hating being ignored by his boss, now he almost wishes that Sungjong had done just that, that he had walked on and pretended not to see him (not that that would have been possible, considering all the ruckus Sungyeol and Myungsoo were making).
"Sir," Woohyun bows awkwardly.
Sungjong looks levelledly down at him, his former smiling expression now replaced by a blank one. "Woohyun." He spares Sungyeol and Myungsoo a glance before dragging his gaze back to Woohyun. "Remember that your lunch break is over at 2. Don't come in late."
"Yes, sir," Woohyun replies, but Sungjong is already walking away, the stranger by his side. Woohyun sighs as he looks after them.
"Who was the woman that was with him?" Sungyeol is asking excitedly. "She was hot as hell. Those two together are almost too much hotness to handle, even for me."
Woohyun shrugs- he didn't really look at the woman who was with Sungjong; all he can remember is a blur of long dark hair and big, sharp eyes. "Did you see how he treated me?" Woohyun whines instead. "He was smiling before, but the moment he saw me- it was as if the sight of me wiped the smile off his face, or something."
"Well, you do tend to do that to people,- Sungyeol says mock-seriously, but grins at the depressed expression on Woohyun's face. "Oh come on, I'm just joking and you know it! He seems like a very normal boss to me. Did you expect him to come running to you smiling or something? You're reading too much into it, I'm telling you."
"Maybe," Woohyun offers, "But if you saw the way he treats my co-workers- Lee Howon, in particular…"
Woohyun is interrupted by a loud cry of 'Yah, Lee Sungyeol!'. He turns around to see a flustered Kim Sunggyu standing at the opposite end of the room, panting hard as if he has been running all the way there.
As soon as he sees him, Sungyeol springs to his feet. "Sorry guys, I've got to go. My lunch break was over half an hour ago, and Sunggyu hyung looks like he is going to kill me if he catches me."
Woohyun is about to say something, but Sungyeol has already sprinted off, Sunggyu hot on his heels. Woohyun looks on in a mixture of dismay and embarrassment as his friend runs out of the room, Sunggyu making a catch for Sungyeol's shirt as the younger's shrill voice begs him to spare him. Sighing, Woohyun wonders if the day will ever come when he will have normal, understanding friends who will care about his problems and help him out.
Clearly, today is not that day.
***
He's doing it again, Woohyun thinks, stealing glances at Sungjong as he bends over Howon's desk to look at something the other is showing him. He has a pleased expression on his face- the closest Woohyun has ever seen him to smiling. It's also a look that Sungjong has never directed at him in all the time Woohyun has been working here.
Woohyun looks back to the menacing pile of work waiting for him on his desk and sighs, not knowing whether he should feel hurt, pissed, jealous or all of the above. He doesn't even know why he cares so much- he and Sungjong are hardly friends; theirs is a purely professional relationship, and Woohyun is pretty sure Sungjong doesn't think very highly of him as an employee. For some reason, though, Woohyun can't help but care- it bothers him to no end that Sungjong seems to be so friendly towards everyone in the office but him.
Maybe Sungyeol is right, Woohyun thinks- maybe he's simply not used to being disliked. Woohyun never thought of himself as someone particularly talented or attractive, but the one thing he's always been good at is pleasing others. No matter what situation he finds himself in, he always knows the right words to say, the right expression to put on his face to make the people around him like him. It's a knack he's had since he was small; he can't remember it ever failing him before. Never before has he met someone who disliked him so clearly.
I'm a fool, Woohyun thinks, twirling a pen in his fingers for a lack of anything better to do. He knows he should just let it go- You can't make everyone like you, Sungyeo's voice reminds him in his head- but somehow, he just can't. He feels a strange, tight knot in the pit of his stomach as he watches Sungjong and Howon chat pleasantly, and Woohyun tells himself that while he might not be able to make everyone like him, he will sure as hell try.
***
Woohyun decides to start from the basics. As an experienced people-pleaser, he knows that the first thing one should do to get other people to like them is to do as they say. There's nothing people like more than seeing those around them second their every wish, Woohyun tells himself exultantly, and he sets out to do just that.
He follows every order Sungjong gives out- he comes to the office earlier than he's supposed to to get ahead with his work, stays overtime more often than he would like and never complains about it as he used to. He keeps his desk super tidy and finishes his work early, asking Sungjong for more once he's done. He even stops sneaking out during office hours to grab coffee with Sungyeol, much to the latter's chagrin- Sungyeol never much cared what his boss thought of him, so he makes the most of every chance he gets to take a break from work.
"You've turned into quite the perfect employee lately," Dongwoo compliments him one day; "You've been annoyingly uptight lately, you know that?" Sungyeol whines; and while Woohyun knows that Dongwoo is pretty much always nice to everyone and Sungyeol likes to complain, he is pretty sure that neither of them is lying to him right now: he's doing a good job, much better than he himself expected.
Which is why he is so dumbfounded when he realizes his plan is not working at all.
Sungjong still isn't any nicer of him. He hardly ever takes notice of Woohyun, and when he does, it's always either to ask him to do something, or to reprimand him for doing it wrong (no matter how hard Woohyun tries to do everything according to Sungjong's wishes, he still somehow manages to incur into the other's disapproval on a daily basis). It's all "Woohyun, do this right now", "Woohyun do that", "Be quicker" and "This is all wrong", and "You writing is illegible" etc etc etc. More often than not, Sungjong won't even deign to look up when Woohyun enters his office after being summoned by him, unless, of course, it is to chide him for yet another thing that he (apparently) did wrong.
Woohyun's indignation reaches its climax when Sungjong announces that Howon is the employee who's been selected for a promotion this month.
"What?" Woohyun gasps, flabbergasted. He was so sure that he would end up getting chosen, with all the extra effort he has been putting into his work in the last few weeks. How did it end up being Howon instead? That guy is nothing special, Woohyun thinks, just a self-conceited idiot who makes weird faces and asks to be called 'Hoya' because he thinks it sounds cool.
"Do you perhaps have any objections, Woohyun?" Sungjong asks, probably noticing the odd expression on Woohyun's face.
Woohyun starts. "Uh, I…" But the look on Sungjong's face tells him clearly that nothing he will say is going to be taken well, so Woohyun just sallows and mutters: "It's nothing, Sir."
"It's not working," Woohyun tells Sungyeol later, grimly sipping his cup of coffee. He decided that since Sungjong doesn't seem to appreciate his efforts anyway, he might just as well start slacking off again and resume his daily, unofficial coffee breaks with Sungyeol.
"What isn't?" Sungyeol asks, looking far more interested in his phone that in Woohyun's troubles. "You are not talking about the coffee machine, right? I just used it and it worked fine. Also, I can't live without coffee. Like, I'll die."
Woohyun glares at him, then sighs. "Not that, you idiot. I'm talking about my plan to get my boss to like me. Well, it's not working. He hates me as much as before- maybe even more, if that's even possible."
"Oh right, the guy you've been moaning about nonstop lately," Sungyeol exclaims, his big eyes lighting up with understanding. "You mean you haven't asked him out yet? What the hell are you doing, Nam Woohyun?"
Woohyun barely manages to keep himself from spitting out his coffee. "W-what are you talking about?" he almost shrieks, flustered. The image of the dream he had had about making out with Sungjong flashes in his head for a second, but he banishes it right away. "Why would I even do that?"
Sungyeol gives him an unimpressed look. "Maybe because you have had the hots for him for weeks and can't seem to be able to talk about anything else? Duh."
Woohyun blushes. "I don't have the hots for him! I just--"
"Well, you're the one who's always going on about how hot he is and stuff--"
"I only said that once, and it's because he's objectively good-looking--"
"See what I mean?" Sungyeol points at him accusatively. "You just admitted it yourself! You like him and you think he's hot. What more proof do you want?"
"I didn't mean it like that!" Woohyun cries defensively. "It's not about his looks or anything, I just… I don't like it when someone doesn't like me me. Especially when they don't even have a good reason to do so."
"Oh, that again," Sungyeol rolls his eyes. "How do you know you didn't do anything to piss him off? Maybe you did something to him, and you didn't even realise it."
Woohyun shakes his head. "Trust me, I thought long and hard about it. There's nothing- nothing so serious as to cause him to dislike me so much."
"If you says so," Sungyeol shrugs. "I still don't get what all the fuss is about- I mean if you really don't fancy him that way, as you say. He's your boss, not your best friend; who cares if he doesn't like you? It's not like my boss and I are on the best of terms either, and I don't go around whining about it."
"That's because you give your boss reason enough reasons to hate you," Woohyun retorts. "Whereas I…"
Suddenly, Woohyun falls silent, his mouth still open as he stares intently into space.
Sungyeol peers worriedly down at him. "What's wrong with you? Did one of your few remaining neurons just commit suicide, or something?"
"Wait," Woohyun shushes him, his face scrunching up in concentration. "I get it. Yes, I get it now."
"Get what?"
"I know what I have to do," Woohyun continues, looking inexplicably cheerful. "To make my boss like me, I mean."
"Uh… and what would that be?" Sungyeol asks him suspiciously.
"I'm going to seduce him!" Woohyun announces triumphantly.
"But … you just said that you didn't like him that way!" Sungyeol points out, puzzled.
"I don't," Woohyun agrees. "But making him fall for me is the easiest and surest way to make him like me, don't you think?"
"What I think," Sungyeol says slowly, laying a hand on Woohyun's shoulder, "is that you are completely, irremediably nuts."
Woohyun shrugs. Sungyeol clearly doesn't get it; he's going to deal with this by himself.
part 2
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Woohyun/Sungjong
Length: 14096 words
Summary: Woohyun might not be able to make everyone like him, but he will sure as hell try. Office AU.
Warning: very mild smut
To: the_resolver
From: Your Secret Santa
"Sssh, be quiet."
Woohyun takes in a sharp breath, eyes squeezed shut. He's trying to be quiet- God knows he's trying- but it's hard when Sungjong's body is pressed against his as he kisses and sucks the sensitive skin of his neck. He tries to think of something as sexually unappealing as possible- the huge cockroach he found in the kitchen the other day, the one time Kibum decided to wear a bunny oufit for Halloween- but he still can't suppress a moan when Sungjong's lips move upwards, ghosting on his jaw and cheek and ear, taking Woohyun's lobe into his mouth and gently sucking on it.
"I told you to be quiet," Sungjong says again, and his voice sounds different- steady but warm, almost affectionate, not the icy cold tone Woohyun is used to. "If you keep being this loud, someone will hear."
"I'm trying," Woohyun snaps. "How can I be quiet when you…"
Sungjong looks up at him, his big, beautiful eyes shining in the dusk. "I see, so it's my fault. Do you want me to stop?"
"No," Woohyun gasps, and then he blushes, hating how desperate he sounds. "N-no. I'll be quiet."
"Will you?"
Woohyun nods reluctantly, and Sungjong reaches out to stroke his cheek. Woohyun shivers under the touch of Sungjong's long, elegant fingers.
"Good," Sungjong says, and then he's kissing Woohyun, all tongue and teeth, and Woohyun is kissing back just as eagerly, pulling Sungjong flush against him, until they are so close it feels as if they have merged into one. Woohyun never wants this to stop, but suddenly Sungjong pulls away, and then he is staring at Woohyun, face inches from his, lips almost touching.
Woohyun gazes back into his eyes, and he is almost surprised when he realises that Sungjong is smiling- a surprisingly cute, innocent smile, his eyes almost disappearing into tiny little crescents of moon. As he starts to smile back, it hits Woohyun that this is indeed the first time he has ever seen Sungjong's smile like this- now that he thinks about it, have they ever kissed before? Wait, why would Sungjong even kiss him? Woohyun blinks in confusion, but then Sungjong leans in to kiss him again and Woohyun's eyes flutter close, the beating of his heart loud in his ears…
"Woohyun."
Woohyun's eyes snap open. For a second, he doesn't know where he is. Sungjong is gone, and he now finds himself looking down at the tip of his shoes, his forehead pressed against a cool, smooth surface. He blinks, confused, when someone calls his name again.
"Woohyun. What are you doing?"
Woohyun cringes as he recognizes Sungjong's voice-the real Sungjong, not the sexy, willing one of his dream. Because that is all his hot make out session with Sungjong was: a figment of his imagination, something his mind conjured up after he had fallen asleep at work. Something like that has never actually happened, and judging from the current state of Woohyun's relationship with his boss, it probably never will.
Gritting his teeth, Woohyun forces himself to to look up at Sungjong. "Yes, sir?" Woohyun smiles sheepishly.
Sungjong, who is towering over him, rams crossed and a dark expression on his face, looks predictably furious. The cute eye smile that Woohyun never fails to win people over with seems to have no effect on Sungjong whatsoever. "I asked you a question, Woohyun. What were you doing just now?"
Woohyun hesitates- he clears his throat, scratches his head, and then, finding nothing better to do, grins up at Sungjong. "Well, you see… I was, hum…" Woohyun racks his brain, looking for some sort of explanation. "I- I was checking my shoes!" he blurts out eventually.
Sungjong stares at him. "You were doing what?"
"I was making sure my shoes are clean," Woohyun answers, trying his best to sound convincing. "There was mud everywhere on my way to work this morning, and I didn't want to get dirt all over the office floor or something."
To Woohyun's surprise, Sungjong actually smiles- although it's nowhere near as warm a smile as the one he just saw in his dream. "I see. And do tell me, do you usually snore while you do that?"
The hopeful smile that had formed on Woohyun's lips fades at his boss' words. - W-What?
"You were snoring," Sungjong clarifies.
"I don't snore! " Woohyun protests, too hurt by Sungjong's remark to fully realise its implications. "Nam Woohyun doesn't snore! "
"You were, though," Howon says from his desk on the other side of the room, flashing Woohyun his trademark mischievous grin. "Sorry mate, but it's true. I could hear you all the way from here."
Woohyun gives him a dirty look. -"I wasn't--"
"Woohyun," Sungjong hisses. "This is not about whether or not you snore. I have no interest in that. What I do care about, rather, is that you were sleeping during office hours. That is completely unacceptable."
Woohyun gulps, looking away guiltily.
"Now, if you intend to go on working here, I advise you make sure that doesn't happen ever again. Never, you hear me?"
Sungjong is staring straight at Woohyun with that withering look of his, and for a moment, Woohyun wonders how someone who has such a pretty face could look so utterly scary. "Yes, sir," he mutters in reply.
"Is that clear?" Sungjong asks him almost condescendingly.
Woohyun nods grimly. "Yes, sir."
"Good. Now, since you apparently have so much time on your hands, why don't you take care of this for me?" Sungjong continues, dumping a heavy-looking stack of documents and various paper work that seem to have appeared out of thin air onto Woohyun's desk. "It has to be ready in time for tomorrow morning's overview, mind you."
Woohyun gapes at the ominous pile, eyes wide with horror. "But… but… It will take me forever to go through all this!" He whines. "I'll never manage to get it all done by tomorrow morning!"
"Then you'd better get started now, don't you think?" Sungjong says as he is already turning around. "I'll see you tomorrow morning at my office. If those files are not ready by 11 am, don't bother showing up at all."
Woohyun feels a sense of dread come over him as he realizes that to complete the task that Sungjong has just assigned him, he will have to stay at work overtime and come to the office much earlier than usual tomorrow (which, coincidentally, is what he had to do yesterday, and the day before that, too… ). The prospect is so disheartening that not even the blissful sight of Sungjong's ass and slender legs as his boss walks back to his office are enough to cheer Woohyun up (although it is an undeniably good sight, indeed).
"Tough day, uh?" Howon smirks at him from over his desk.
Woohyun scowls, not even bothering to reply as he glowers at the pile of work in front of him.
"You OK?" Woohyun turns around to see Dongwoo give him a concerned look. Dongwoo is Woohyun's only ally in the office- the one who helped him get his bearings when he first started working there, and pretty much the kindest person Woohyun has ever met.
Woohyun forces himself to smile. He doesn't want Dongwoo to worry about him- the older guy is already prone to fretting as it is.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he lies, because to be perfectly honest, he's never felt further from fine. "I'm fine, really."
"I hate my boss," Woohyun mutters at lunch time, glaring down at his bowl of Bibimbap.
"You mean Lee Sungjong?" Sungyeol stares at him incredulously from across the table. "You are kidding me, right? What should I say then? My boss is a lazy bummer who forces me do all the work he can't be bothered to take care of himself, and still has the nerve to nag at me!"
"I like Kim Sunggyu sunbae," Myungsoo says quietly in between mouthfuls of his kimchi jigae (the same dish he's been eating everyday since Woohyun joined the company a couple of months before. Woohyun doesn't know how Myungsoo can look at the dish without wanting to throw up, let alone eat it).
"That's because you are quiet and always do as he says, so he treats you well," Sungyeol says dismissively. "He's awful to me. He's always breathing on my shoulder, telling me to do this and that, and no matter what I do, he still manages to find fault in it. It drives me crazy!"
Woohyun sighs disconsolately as Sungyeol keeps ranting.
"At least with your boss, you've got the eye candy. Kim Sunggyu is not even nice to look at. He looks like a fox, or some kind of old, grumpy shiba inu--"
"The thing is," Woohyun says slowly, looking uncharacteristically serious. "I think… I think my boss hates me. No, screw that- I'm pretty sure he does."
"Oh," Sungyeol blinks. "And why's that?"
Woohyun stare at him, mouth hanging open. "Is that all you have to say?"
"Uh?"
"Why aren't you shocked? You aren't even surprised! I just told you that someone hates me- me, Nam Woohyun, the most lovable guy in the whole world!"
Sungyeol snorts. "Are you being serious right now? Because I don't think--"
"I mean, it's never happened to me before!" Woohyun rambles on, ignoring Sungyeol. "Even when people are not crazy about me at first, I usually grow on them with time. It's kind of my charm, if you know what I mean. And yet, with this guy- my boss- it's just the opposite. The more time passes, the less he seems to like me. Not that he has any reason to dislike me, really- he hardly knows me at all- we have spoken only a handful of times, and it was always about work- and I'm a good employee, so it's not like--"
"Hey, hey, slow down for a second," Sungyeol interrupts him. "This can't be the first time someone doesn't like you."
"It is, though," Woohyun pouts.
Sungyeol looks at him strangely- as if he were an alien, or some other kind of never-seen-before organism. "You can't expect anyone to like you, Woohyun. Some people don't even need a reason to dislike you- you might just rub them off the wrong way, or something. It's just the way life is."
"Your life, maybe," Woohyun corrects him. "Not mine. I was born to be loved. It's the reason why exist. I'm--"
"You are one hell of a drama queen, that's what you are," Sungyeol snorts, rolling his eyes.
"Yah! How dare you talk to your hyung like that?" Woohyun snaps, whacking Sungyeol on the head.
"What hyung?" Sungyeols screeches, ducking away. "You're hardly a few months older than me! We were born on the same year!"
"You agree with me, don't you, Myungsoo-ah?" Woohyun turns to the younger man, blatantly ignoring Sungyeol's words. "I'm the kind of person you can't help but love, right?"
Myungsoo stops eating for a couple of second, his face expressionless as he thinks it over. "I like Woohyun hyung," he concludes eventually, immediately resuming his munching and swallowing.
"Waah, I knew you would say that, Myungsoo-ah!" Woohyun coos, reaching out to ruffle Myungsoo's hair. "You really know how to make your hyung happy!"
"What are you even so happy about? He'd say that to everyone who asks," Sungyeol snorts. "He even likes Kim Sunggyu- how crazy is that? Who in their right mind would say they like him?"
"Kim Sunggyu sunbae is nice," Myungsoo murmurs, still stuffing himself with food.
"See?- Sungyeol exclaims triumphantly. "He's totally not a reliable source of information when it comes to liking people."
"Which just explains why you're his best friend," Woohyun jokes, earning himself a glare and an enraged 'Yah!' from Sungyeol. "Anyway, about what I was saying before--"
"Wait, isn't that Woohyun hyung's boss?"
Woohyun and Sungyeol stare at Myungsoo wordlessly before turning around to look at where he is pointing. Woohyun almost chokes on his rice when he sees Sungjong walking in their general direction, tray in hand, chattering pleasantly with the woman beside him.
"It's him," he hisses, turning back to Sungyeol and Myungsoo, who are staring at him with confused expressions on their faces. "He's coming here- what if he wants to sit with us? What if--"
"Why would he sit with to us?" Sungyeol says, louder than Woohyun would have liked. "A boss doesn't eat lunch with their employees. Besides, weren't you just saying that he hates you or something? I doubt he'd want to spend his lunch break with you."
"Yeah, but still-- I mean, he is walking towards us--"
"Oh, here he is," Myungsoo says matter-of-factly, not bothering to hide the half-munched food in his mouth as he speaks.
Woohyun turns around slowly, his growing sense of dread justified as he realizes that Sungjong is standing right behind him. Their eyes meet, and Sungjong stops, his smile melting away like ice-cream in the sun. Woohyun wishes with all his being that he hadn't turned around; despite all of his previous talk about hating being ignored by his boss, now he almost wishes that Sungjong had done just that, that he had walked on and pretended not to see him (not that that would have been possible, considering all the ruckus Sungyeol and Myungsoo were making).
"Sir," Woohyun bows awkwardly.
Sungjong looks levelledly down at him, his former smiling expression now replaced by a blank one. "Woohyun." He spares Sungyeol and Myungsoo a glance before dragging his gaze back to Woohyun. "Remember that your lunch break is over at 2. Don't come in late."
"Yes, sir," Woohyun replies, but Sungjong is already walking away, the stranger by his side. Woohyun sighs as he looks after them.
"Who was the woman that was with him?" Sungyeol is asking excitedly. "She was hot as hell. Those two together are almost too much hotness to handle, even for me."
Woohyun shrugs- he didn't really look at the woman who was with Sungjong; all he can remember is a blur of long dark hair and big, sharp eyes. "Did you see how he treated me?" Woohyun whines instead. "He was smiling before, but the moment he saw me- it was as if the sight of me wiped the smile off his face, or something."
"Well, you do tend to do that to people,- Sungyeol says mock-seriously, but grins at the depressed expression on Woohyun's face. "Oh come on, I'm just joking and you know it! He seems like a very normal boss to me. Did you expect him to come running to you smiling or something? You're reading too much into it, I'm telling you."
"Maybe," Woohyun offers, "But if you saw the way he treats my co-workers- Lee Howon, in particular…"
Woohyun is interrupted by a loud cry of 'Yah, Lee Sungyeol!'. He turns around to see a flustered Kim Sunggyu standing at the opposite end of the room, panting hard as if he has been running all the way there.
As soon as he sees him, Sungyeol springs to his feet. "Sorry guys, I've got to go. My lunch break was over half an hour ago, and Sunggyu hyung looks like he is going to kill me if he catches me."
Woohyun is about to say something, but Sungyeol has already sprinted off, Sunggyu hot on his heels. Woohyun looks on in a mixture of dismay and embarrassment as his friend runs out of the room, Sunggyu making a catch for Sungyeol's shirt as the younger's shrill voice begs him to spare him. Sighing, Woohyun wonders if the day will ever come when he will have normal, understanding friends who will care about his problems and help him out.
Clearly, today is not that day.
***
He's doing it again, Woohyun thinks, stealing glances at Sungjong as he bends over Howon's desk to look at something the other is showing him. He has a pleased expression on his face- the closest Woohyun has ever seen him to smiling. It's also a look that Sungjong has never directed at him in all the time Woohyun has been working here.
Woohyun looks back to the menacing pile of work waiting for him on his desk and sighs, not knowing whether he should feel hurt, pissed, jealous or all of the above. He doesn't even know why he cares so much- he and Sungjong are hardly friends; theirs is a purely professional relationship, and Woohyun is pretty sure Sungjong doesn't think very highly of him as an employee. For some reason, though, Woohyun can't help but care- it bothers him to no end that Sungjong seems to be so friendly towards everyone in the office but him.
Maybe Sungyeol is right, Woohyun thinks- maybe he's simply not used to being disliked. Woohyun never thought of himself as someone particularly talented or attractive, but the one thing he's always been good at is pleasing others. No matter what situation he finds himself in, he always knows the right words to say, the right expression to put on his face to make the people around him like him. It's a knack he's had since he was small; he can't remember it ever failing him before. Never before has he met someone who disliked him so clearly.
I'm a fool, Woohyun thinks, twirling a pen in his fingers for a lack of anything better to do. He knows he should just let it go- You can't make everyone like you, Sungyeo's voice reminds him in his head- but somehow, he just can't. He feels a strange, tight knot in the pit of his stomach as he watches Sungjong and Howon chat pleasantly, and Woohyun tells himself that while he might not be able to make everyone like him, he will sure as hell try.
***
Woohyun decides to start from the basics. As an experienced people-pleaser, he knows that the first thing one should do to get other people to like them is to do as they say. There's nothing people like more than seeing those around them second their every wish, Woohyun tells himself exultantly, and he sets out to do just that.
He follows every order Sungjong gives out- he comes to the office earlier than he's supposed to to get ahead with his work, stays overtime more often than he would like and never complains about it as he used to. He keeps his desk super tidy and finishes his work early, asking Sungjong for more once he's done. He even stops sneaking out during office hours to grab coffee with Sungyeol, much to the latter's chagrin- Sungyeol never much cared what his boss thought of him, so he makes the most of every chance he gets to take a break from work.
"You've turned into quite the perfect employee lately," Dongwoo compliments him one day; "You've been annoyingly uptight lately, you know that?" Sungyeol whines; and while Woohyun knows that Dongwoo is pretty much always nice to everyone and Sungyeol likes to complain, he is pretty sure that neither of them is lying to him right now: he's doing a good job, much better than he himself expected.
Which is why he is so dumbfounded when he realizes his plan is not working at all.
Sungjong still isn't any nicer of him. He hardly ever takes notice of Woohyun, and when he does, it's always either to ask him to do something, or to reprimand him for doing it wrong (no matter how hard Woohyun tries to do everything according to Sungjong's wishes, he still somehow manages to incur into the other's disapproval on a daily basis). It's all "Woohyun, do this right now", "Woohyun do that", "Be quicker" and "This is all wrong", and "You writing is illegible" etc etc etc. More often than not, Sungjong won't even deign to look up when Woohyun enters his office after being summoned by him, unless, of course, it is to chide him for yet another thing that he (apparently) did wrong.
Woohyun's indignation reaches its climax when Sungjong announces that Howon is the employee who's been selected for a promotion this month.
"What?" Woohyun gasps, flabbergasted. He was so sure that he would end up getting chosen, with all the extra effort he has been putting into his work in the last few weeks. How did it end up being Howon instead? That guy is nothing special, Woohyun thinks, just a self-conceited idiot who makes weird faces and asks to be called 'Hoya' because he thinks it sounds cool.
"Do you perhaps have any objections, Woohyun?" Sungjong asks, probably noticing the odd expression on Woohyun's face.
Woohyun starts. "Uh, I…" But the look on Sungjong's face tells him clearly that nothing he will say is going to be taken well, so Woohyun just sallows and mutters: "It's nothing, Sir."
"It's not working," Woohyun tells Sungyeol later, grimly sipping his cup of coffee. He decided that since Sungjong doesn't seem to appreciate his efforts anyway, he might just as well start slacking off again and resume his daily, unofficial coffee breaks with Sungyeol.
"What isn't?" Sungyeol asks, looking far more interested in his phone that in Woohyun's troubles. "You are not talking about the coffee machine, right? I just used it and it worked fine. Also, I can't live without coffee. Like, I'll die."
Woohyun glares at him, then sighs. "Not that, you idiot. I'm talking about my plan to get my boss to like me. Well, it's not working. He hates me as much as before- maybe even more, if that's even possible."
"Oh right, the guy you've been moaning about nonstop lately," Sungyeol exclaims, his big eyes lighting up with understanding. "You mean you haven't asked him out yet? What the hell are you doing, Nam Woohyun?"
Woohyun barely manages to keep himself from spitting out his coffee. "W-what are you talking about?" he almost shrieks, flustered. The image of the dream he had had about making out with Sungjong flashes in his head for a second, but he banishes it right away. "Why would I even do that?"
Sungyeol gives him an unimpressed look. "Maybe because you have had the hots for him for weeks and can't seem to be able to talk about anything else? Duh."
Woohyun blushes. "I don't have the hots for him! I just--"
"Well, you're the one who's always going on about how hot he is and stuff--"
"I only said that once, and it's because he's objectively good-looking--"
"See what I mean?" Sungyeol points at him accusatively. "You just admitted it yourself! You like him and you think he's hot. What more proof do you want?"
"I didn't mean it like that!" Woohyun cries defensively. "It's not about his looks or anything, I just… I don't like it when someone doesn't like me me. Especially when they don't even have a good reason to do so."
"Oh, that again," Sungyeol rolls his eyes. "How do you know you didn't do anything to piss him off? Maybe you did something to him, and you didn't even realise it."
Woohyun shakes his head. "Trust me, I thought long and hard about it. There's nothing- nothing so serious as to cause him to dislike me so much."
"If you says so," Sungyeol shrugs. "I still don't get what all the fuss is about- I mean if you really don't fancy him that way, as you say. He's your boss, not your best friend; who cares if he doesn't like you? It's not like my boss and I are on the best of terms either, and I don't go around whining about it."
"That's because you give your boss reason enough reasons to hate you," Woohyun retorts. "Whereas I…"
Suddenly, Woohyun falls silent, his mouth still open as he stares intently into space.
Sungyeol peers worriedly down at him. "What's wrong with you? Did one of your few remaining neurons just commit suicide, or something?"
"Wait," Woohyun shushes him, his face scrunching up in concentration. "I get it. Yes, I get it now."
"Get what?"
"I know what I have to do," Woohyun continues, looking inexplicably cheerful. "To make my boss like me, I mean."
"Uh… and what would that be?" Sungyeol asks him suspiciously.
"I'm going to seduce him!" Woohyun announces triumphantly.
"But … you just said that you didn't like him that way!" Sungyeol points out, puzzled.
"I don't," Woohyun agrees. "But making him fall for me is the easiest and surest way to make him like me, don't you think?"
"What I think," Sungyeol says slowly, laying a hand on Woohyun's shoulder, "is that you are completely, irremediably nuts."
Woohyun shrugs. Sungyeol clearly doesn't get it; he's going to deal with this by himself.
part 2